


Begin Again

by Katybug1992



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-24
Updated: 2013-06-24
Packaged: 2017-12-16 01:34:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/856272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katybug1992/pseuds/Katybug1992
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis had made Harry let his walls down slightly, and it was only a matter of time before he tore them down completely, and that thought alone was enough to make that giant, goofy smile return to Harry' face.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Begin Again

Harry let out a shaky breath as he continued to pace in his room, his best friends watching him from their spots on his bed; Liam on the end, concern flooding his features, and Niall against the headboard, clutching Harry's ratty old stuffed cat and waiting for Liam to interfere before Harry had a panic attack….again.  
Liam sighed, getting up from his spot and forcing Harry to stop his pacing, placing both hands on the younger boy's shoulders and searching his eyes for a moment before Liam pulled Harry to him, hugging him tightly.  
"Everything will be alright." Liam muttered as Harry returned the hug and let out a shuttering breath against Liam's neck.  
"Why is Louis Tomlinson interested in me? It's not like I'm anything special." Harry asked, his eyes scared, wondering why the captain of the football team would ask him out.  
"Why WOULDN'T he be interested in you?" Zayn replied, walking unceremoniously into the room.  
"Where were you about twenty minutes ago?" Niall demanded, having not moved from his spot, "Harry's already had one panic attack, and he's been slowly building up to another one."  
"Like you were any help, either." Liam replied, taking a break from trying to get Harry to breath.  
"Look, just because Grimshaw is a moron and didn't realize how great you are, doesn't mean other people don't pick up on it." Zayn pushed Liam aside and rubbed Harry's arms up and down, continuing, "You're probably the most genuine bloke out there, and people notice things like that. You never have a bad word to say about anyone, you were ever ready to jump in and defend Nick after my last comment. The dude messed with your head, H, and you wouldn't let me beat the living shit out of him."  
Harry gave a faint smile before hugging Zayn tightly, mumbling something into his shoulder.  
"Now," Zayn pulled back, a smile sneaking into place at Harry's comment, "Let's get you ready for your date."

Took a deep breath in the mirror  
He didn't like it when I wore high heels  
But I do

Harry grinned as Zayn riffled through all of his clothes, trying to find the perfect outfit for the younger boy, finally settling on a pair of black super-skinny jeans and a loose, flow-y white t-shirt.  
"I think we should pull these back out," Zayn smiled softly, holding out Harry's favorite pair a shoes, black booties.  
Harry grinned widely, pulling on the shoes that Nick had always said looked ridiculous, and stupid, and had told him not to wear them while out with the older lad. Harry had regretfully put them in the back of his closet, complying with Nick's wish.  
"There," Zayn grinned as Harry pulled the shoes on, "there's the real Harry Styles… Just one more thing."  
Zayn walked over to Harry's bedside table and pulled out the paper airplane necklace he had given Harry for the boy's sixth birthday. Nick had noticed that Harry had never taken the necklace off, had gotten jealous, and had punched Harry after he had refused to stop wearing the necklace. When Liam had been informed, he had removed the necklace for Harry's own safety (while forcing himself not to go track Nick down), then informed Zayn (and consequently prevented Zayn from getting charged with the murder of Nick Grimshaw) about what had happened.  
"You're ready." Zayn smiled faintly, fastening the necklace around Harry's neck, returning it to its rightful place.  
Harry grinned and hugged Zayn tightly, "Thanks, Zayn, for everything."  
"He's gonna fall hard for the Styles awkward charm." Zayn smiled fondly as Niall handed Harry his iPod and Liam tossed him the wallet on the nightstand. Pulling his coat on, Harry exited the room and when they heard the front door close, Zayn muttered to himself, "Same way I did."

Turn the lock and put my headphones on  
He always said he didn't get this song  
But I do, I do

Harry locked the door to his house, knowing that his friends wouldn't be leaving, and put his headphones on, starting to make his way to the tea shop in the square. He kept his head down as he walked, focusing on the music in order to keep his thoughts from running rampant and preventing him from running back to his house and into Zayn's comforting arms, and Liam's kind words, and Niall's desperate attempts to get him to laugh away the fears.  
As he neared the shop, Harry's favorite song began to play and he slowed his pace, he was going to be early anyway. He tried to fight back the thoughts that came to the front of his mind. Nick had always criticized all of his music, saying that he couldn't possible like any of those groups. The older boy had hated this song in particular, saying that there was no way it could actually be Harry's favorite song, especially since the younger boy had no clue about the meaning of the song. But that couldn't have been further from the truth. The words had always rung clear to Harry, even more so now.  
After a few minutes, taking a few deep breaths, he resumed his previous pace, arriving at the tea shop a few minutes early.

Walked in expecting you'd be late  
But you got here early and you stand and wave  
I walk to you

Harry entered the shop and was surprised to find Louis already seated. He stood up, smiled brightly and waved Harry over to the table in the corner of the shop, the table that offered the most privacy. Harry made his way over to the table, still in shock that he wouldn't be waiting ten to fifteen minutes for the football captain the way he had had to with Nick.  
He shook his head to clear his thoughts before sending Louis a shy smile and picking up his pace a little, reaching the table shortly.

You pull my chair out and help me in  
And you don't know how nice that is  
But I do

Apparently, Louis was not done surprising Harry. He moved to meet Harry on the other side of the table and pulled his chair out for him. Harry did everything in his power not to gap openly and stare wide-eyed at the slightly older boy (though he probably failed) as Louis took his hand and pulled him closer to the chair, helping him sit down. Harry mumbled a thank you, pulling his chair back to the table. In the almost eight months that he had been with Nick, the older boy had never down anything like that.  
"So, I ordered the traditional tea, if that's alright?" Louis looked worried that he had been wrong in assuming that was what Harry would have wanted, "Liam said it was what you and him usually got, and I figured that since he's your best friend, and you guys have tea a lot, that you--"  
"Yeah," Harry's face broke into a small smile. Louis had asked Liam about what he liked, he had gone through the trouble of approaching Harry's most protective friend to ask him what kind of tea he liked…Nick would never have done that, "the traditional tea is my favorite."  
Louis' face broke into that brilliant smile once more and the tea arrived shortly after, the assortment of sandwiches and pastries set down between them as another worker overturned their tea cups and poured in the tea, setting the tea pot on the smaller tray containing the cream and sugar next to the food. Louis moved the food tier over slightly so that his view of Harry was unobstructed.  
"You look really nice." Louis' smile turned soft and fond and Harry blushed darkly, stuttering out a thank you.  
Harry can't help the smile that he feels creeping its way across his face, and he can't help but feel a weight lift off his shoulders at the staunch reality that Louis was totally different than Nick, and that thought immediately caused Harry to relax.

And you throw your head back laughing like a little kid  
I think it's strange that you think I'm funny 'cause he never did  
I've been spending the last eight months  
Thinking all love ever does is break and burn and end  
But on a Wednesday in a cafe I watched it begin again

"I really like that necklace." Louis smiled, leaning over the table and taking the pendant in his hand, "I've never seen anything like it before."  
"One of my best friend, Zayn Malik-you know him right?- gave it to me for my sixth birthday." Harry replied, "I never took it off for a long time. I thought I had lost it for a while until Liam showed up with it this morning."  
Harry couldn't bear to tell Louis the truth about why he had to stop wearing it…not yet, at least.  
"He's the crazy good artist, right?" Louis asked, looking at Harry curiously. He wanted to impress the younger boy. He wasn't too proud to admit that he had done his research. Louis had weight lifting with Liam and had not been shy about his reasoning for being Liam's spotting partner.  
He had used this partnership to learn everything he could about Harry and the people in his life. He also used this to garner Liam's respect. It was well known that Liam would be the first person to stand up for Harry, to throw a punch if provoked, and Louis was truly impressed with the restraint he had showed during the whole Nick situation.  
Louis didn't know much about it, but he did know that Liam had had to reign in all of his anger and hatred for the older boy in order to keep Niall and Zayn from doing something that would get them in trouble. He didn't know what Nick had done, but he did know that Liam tended to get tense when the other boy was mentioned, or spotted, or alluded to.  
"Yeah." Harry smiled a proud smile, "His work is hanging up in the school. I mean, he has always been crazy good. Back in pre-school when we were all still scribbling, he was coloring in the lines. I'm trying to get him to apply for that fine arts school in the next town over, but he says that he doesn't want to leave me. He tends to be the one that babies me."  
Louis let out a laugh, which caused Harry to try to reign in the shocked look that threatened to cover his face. Nick never laughed at anything Harry said, especially not at a comment about Zayn.  
Harry looked at Louis across the table, and let a genuine, soft smile cover his face as he felt a new page being turned in his life. He felt those butterflies, that had previously been replaced with fear, return as he blushed down at his tea as Louis' fond smile returned.

 

You said you never met one girl  
Who had as many James Taylor records as you  
But I do

The food was long gone, the tea pot empty, the left over tea in their cups gone cold, but the two teens were still lost in their own world.  
"So, who's you're favorite musical artist?" Louis asked leaning forward, continuing to focus all of his attention on Harry.  
"Um…" Harry bit his lip, worry flashing across his face briefly as he debated telling Louis something that Nick had poked endless fun at. Deciding that it was worth the risk, he replied, "I've always liked James Taylor."  
"Me, too!!" Louis exclaimed, smiling brightly, causing Harry to smile in return.  
"I actually have all of his records…" Harry bit his lip again, blushing at the look of wonder Louis gave him.  
"I've never met someone who had more than me." Louis laughed.  
"Maybe you could come over sometime to listen to them, or something…." Harry immediately opened his mouth to take it back, fearing it far too forward, but his voice left him as Louis nodded enthusiastically.  
"I would love that!!" Louis gushed

We tell stories and you don't know why  
I'm coming off a little shy  
But I do

The conversation had flowed freely the whole afternoon, though it was mostly Louis. Harry would speak up more on certain topics than others, but still checked himself. After all, Nick had told him countless times that he wasn't an interesting person.  
Louis noticed Harry holding back a lot, knowing that he wasn't typically shy--the kid could get up in front of the whole school and sing, and there were multiple occasions where he and Niall would have conversations while walking in opposite directions on the way to class and they would be yelling to each other, and Liam had confirmed that Harry wasn't shy about practically anything--his behavior concerned Louis somewhat.  
"Are you okay?" Louis asked hesitantly, "Did I--"  
"No," Harry cut him off, "You didn't do anything. It's just me. Sorry. I've only done this whole dating thing once and it turned into a disaster, so…"  
"We can take this slow." Louis replied, "Go at your pace?"  
"You actually want to do this again?" Harry looked up hesitantly.  
"Yeah," Louis gave Harry that fond smile once more, "I do."  
Harry couldn’t have stopped the smile that crept onto his face at that and he finally, truly, felt him relax.

But you throw your head back laughing like a little kid  
I think it's strange that you think I'm funny 'cause he never did  
I've been spending the last eight months  
Thinking all love ever does is break and burn and end  
But on a Wednesday in a cafe I watched it begin again

"So," Louis leaned forward once more, taking Harry's hand and stroking his thumb across it, "we've covered Zayn, tell me about your other friends, your family, you, anything. I like hearing you talk."  
Harry felt the, now familiar, heat fill his face, as he began to respond, "Well, me and Liam grew up together, I've known him, literally, my whole life. He lives next door to me. He's great, he's been like an older brother to me. We met Zayn on the first day of pre-school and we've been inseparable since. Then Niall moved into the house down the street from me and Liam when we were in fifth grade and he joined our little group. He's from Ireland, and I usually end up going to visit his family with him. My mom can always tell when I've been at Niall's because I always come home with an Irish accent."  
Louis let out a hearty laugh, his head thrown back as the musical sound escaped his throat, "They sound interesting."  
"They are." Harry smiled softly, thinking of his best friends who were currently in his room, waiting for him to get home, "I mean, right now, Niall has probably eaten all of the junk food in my kitchen, Zayn is probably painting something on one of the few places he hasn't marked with his doodles, and Liam is probably trying to make sure that they don't make a mess."  
Louis laughed again and the two began to talk about their families, their lives, just wanting to know more about each other. As their time dragged on, Harry felt his feelings for the feathery-haired boy solidify, feeling so much more toward him than he had ever felt toward Nick, that he had ever wanted to let himself feel toward Louis, and he liked it a lot more than he thought he would.

And we walked down the block to my car and I almost brought him up  
But you start to talk about the movies that your family  
Watches  
Every single Christmas and I want to talk about that  
And for the first time what's past is past

The two stood to leave, after Louis steadfastly refusing to let Harry pay, and walked out of the shop. Harry was, once more, surprised (though he really shouldn't have been at this point) when Louis didn't make his way toward the flashy red Porsche everyone knew Louis' parents had bought him for his sixteenth birthday, the car that Nick had mocked endlessly. He wondered briefly if he should tell Louis about the Nick situation, the ENTIRE Nick situation, but decided that he should hold off on that, not wanted to unload everything onto this ball of energy and ruin what had been such a good a day.  
Harry shook his head, tuning fully into what Louis was chattering about: the upcoming Christmas holiday.  
"My family usually has 'The Christmas Story' playing on loop all day on Christmas. Does your family do anything like that?" Louis turned to Harry curiously.  
"We usually watch 'Love, Actually' on Christmas Eve." Harry replied, smiling at the mention of his favorite movie, "Then Zayn comes and spends Christmas Eve and Day with us. It's something that started when he got curious about Christmas, his family is Muslim, and I begged my mom to let me include in, we were in third grade, I think. She agreed and since then, Santa has always left a present or two for Zayn under the tree, not counting the presents he gets from me or my family members. What's Christmas like for you?"  
Louis chuckled, "Christmas morning is crazy at my house. With my sisters running around, and my mom and grandma scrambling around the kitchen making breakfast and trying to keep the girls from knocking stuff over."  
"Sounds lovely." Harry smiled. He loved his family and how they spent the holiday, but it was always so quiet, with it being just his mum, sister, Zayn, and him. Sometimes he wished he had a huge family to celebrate with.  
"So does yours." Louis returned the smile, coming to stop next to Harry when they reached the younger boy's house.

'Cause you throw your head back laughing like a little kid  
I think it's strange that you think I'm funny 'cause he never did  
I've been spending the last eight month  
Thinking all love ever does is break and burn and end  
But on a Wednesday in a cafe I watched it begin again

Harry opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a loud slam against the door and Zayn's yell of "Niall!" coming from the top of the stairs.  
He opened his mouth again, but was interrupted by a loud Irish accented, "Just kiss him already!!"  
"Niall!!!" This time it was Liam's scandalized voice admonishing the blonde boy.  
"Sorry." Harry chuckled, face turning the familiar shade of red.  
"Not a problem." Louis laughed. He held Harry's gaze for a few moments longer, almost drowning in the emerald pools, before stepping closer and whispering, "I would really like to."  
"Kiss me?" Harry's brow furrowed in confusion before relaxing into a contented smile as Louis nodded, "I would really like you to."  
Louis gave an affectionate laugh as he gently cupped Harry's face in his hands and went up on his tip-toes to softly brush his lips across Harry's.  
The two boys smiled brightly at each other as they separated.  
"I would really like to do this again sometime." Louis smiled brightly, "Soon."  
"I would really like that." Harry replied, feeling something that he had never felt with Nick rising in his chest.  
"So, I guess I'll call you?" Louis asked, almost shyly, like Harry was going to take back his previous sentiment.  
"Okay," Harry returned the shy smile, "Do you need my number?"  
"I got it from Liam actually…." Louis replied, "I really like you, Harry. I just want you to know that."  
"I really like you, too." Harry replied, "And you must be doing something right if Liam gave you my number."  
The two boys shared another laugh before Louis noticed the three faces watching through the window above the door, "We have an audience."  
Harry looked up and rolled his eyes as Zayn yelled, "Get your little bubble butt in here before you catch a cold."  
"We're getting impatient, Hazza." Niall yelled, "We want you to tell us all the dirty details."  
"Shut up," Liam hissed at the other two, clearly not knowing that Harry and Louis could hear them, "you're going to ruin the moment."  
"Too late." Harry yelled back at his friends, receiving two cheeky grins and an apologetic, kicked-puppy look in return. Turning back to Louis, he said, "I guess I'll talk to you later."  
"Most definitely." Louis beamed. He leaned up, kissed Harry's cheek, and started the walk back to his car.  
Harry tried to school his features before walking back into the house, trying to wipe the goofy grin off his face. When he deemed the task impossible, he gave up and walked into his house before being assaulted by rapid fire questions from his friends.

But on a Wednesday in a cafe I watched it begin again

He didn't know what the future held for him and Louis, but he did know that in the span of one afternoon, in the middle of the week, Louis had managed to get him to rethink the whole relationship thing, got him to realize that not everyone was like Nick. Over the span of a few hours, Louis had made Harry let his walls down slightly, and it was only a matter of time before he tore them down completely, and that thought alone was enough to make that giant, goofy smile return to Harry' face.


End file.
